Today, we celebrate a massive victory for child online safety! A dangerous A.I. moratorium, which would have prevented states from passing any laws to regulate A.I. for the next 10 years, has been struck down! Many of you joined us in sounding the alarm about this moratorium and urging Congress to oppose it. Congress heard your calls, and the once hotly debated proposal was shut down nearly unanimously, with a 99-1 vote.
Let this be proof that YOUR VOICE MATTERS!
Why the A.I. Moratorium is Significant
The A.I. Moratorium would have prevented states from promoting safety in the A.I. space. At a time when A.I. is already being weaponized for sexual exploitation and harm in myriad ways, this was nothing short of terrifying.
We’re talking:
- “nudifying apps” that strip clothes off photos of women
- Predators creating AI-generated child sexual abuse material, or teens creating this material of their peers
- AI chatbots engaging in sexually explicit conversations with minors, or entertaining child sexual abuse roleplay
- Traffickers exploring AI tools to groom and sextort minors at scale
And so much more.
Now that this reckless moratorium has been struck down, states are free to move quickly to protect their constituents from the rapidly expanding harms that arise from A.I. tools.
Despite 99-1 Vote, This Was a Narrow Escape
Although in the end the Senate voted 99-1 against the moratorium, we very narrowly escaped disaster. Yesterday, Congress was considering what appeared to be a compromise on the moratorium, but was actually a misguided amendment that would only make the situation worse.
The so-called “compromise,” formed between senior Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ted Cruz, stated that child online safety laws could be exempt from the moratorium IF they did not pose an “undue or disproportionate burden” on “artificial intelligence models, artificial intelligence systems, or automated decision systems.”
However, the bill’s definitions of A.I. systems and automated decision systems was extremely broad, and would likely have implicated everything from basic algorithms to age verification. As a result, Big Tech could have challenged most any child online safety law, arguing it violated the terms of the moratorium. States would have been tied up defending their laws in court, instead of being free to protect children.
NCOSE and other advocates for online safety promptly rallied together and pushed back against this amendment. A fresh wave of media coverage was sparked, including a New York Times article citing NCOSE’s analysis that the moratorium would jeopardize recent progress wherein the Supreme Court upheld a Texas law requiring pornography websites verify that their users are 18+.
The Ai Moratorium compromise could impact SCOTUS age verification decision. Read the full legal analysis below. 👇 #AI #NCOSE #ageverification #endexploitation #sexploitation #SCOTUS #analysis https://t.co/aq7qFLbDtv
— National Center on Sexual Exploitation (@NCOSE) June 30, 2025
Following this, Senator Blackburn pulled out of the deal, and instead partnered with Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell to introduce an amendment to strike the entire proposal.
We are so grateful to Senator Blackburn for her unfailing commitment to protecting children and for having the courage and integrity to change her stance on the compromise once new information was presented. We are grateful to the many advocates and experts who rallied quickly to prevent this misguided step. And once again, we are grateful to YOU! Thank you for making your voice heard on the Hill, and helping guide our legislators towards wise decisions that protect our children and the future of mankind!
